Creatures

This section contains stat blocks and descriptions for the creatures that appear in Dragon of Icespire Peak.

Creature Stat Blocks

A creature’s stat block provides the essential information that you, as the DM, need to run the creature.

Size

The Size Categories table shows how much space a creature of a particular size controls in combat. This space is not a measure of the creature’s physical dimensions. For example, a typical Medium creature isn’t 5 feet wide, but it controls a space that wide. If a Medium orc stands in a 5-foot-wide doorway, other creatures can’t get through unless the orc lets them.

Size Categories

Squeezing into a Smaller Space

A creature can squeeze through a space large enough for a creature one size smaller than itself. When squeezing through such a space, the creature’s speed is halved. While squeezing, a creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws, and attack rolls against it have advantage.

Type

A creature’s type speaks to its fundamental nature. The following types of creatures appear in this adventure.

• Beasts. Nonhumanoid creatures that, like real-world animals, are a normal part of the world’s ecology.
• Dragons. Winged, reptilian creatures of ancient origin and tremendous power.
• Elementals. Creatures comprised of one or more of the fundamental elements of air, earth, fire, and water.
• Giants. Humanoid-like creatures that tower over humans and their kin.
• Humanoids. Bipedal peoples of the civilized and savage world, including humans, dwarves, elves, and halflings.
• Monstrosities. Frightening creatures that sometimes resemble beasts but that are often touched by magic and almost never benign.
• Oozes. Gelatinous creatures that generally have no fixed shape. They are mostly subterranean.
• Plants. Plant creatures, as opposed to ordinary plants, have some degree of sentience and mobility.
• Undead. Once-living creatures brought to a horrifying state of undeath through the practice of necromantic magic or some unholy curse.

Tags

A creature might have one or more tags appended to its type, in parentheses. For example, a mimic has the monstrosity (shapechanger) type. These parenthetical tags provide an additional layer of categorization for certain creatures, but they have no bearing on how a creature is used in combat.

Alignment

A creature’s alignment reflects its disposition. Alignment indicates whether a creature leans toward law or chaos and good or evil, or whether a creature is neutral.

Any Alignment

Some creatures, such as the veteran, can have any alignment. In other words, you choose the creature’s alignment. Depending on the creature, its alignment entry might indicate a tendency or aversion toward law, chaos, good, or evil.

Unaligned

Many creatures of low intelligence have no comprehension of law or chaos, good or evil. They don’t make moral or ethical choices, but rather act on instinct. These creatures are unaligned, which means they don’t have an alignment.

Armor Class

A creature that wears armor or carries a shield has an AC that takes its armor, shield, and Dexterity into account. Otherwise, a creature’s AC is based on its Dexterity modifier and any natural armor or supernatural resilience it might possess.

If a creature wears armor or carries a shield, the kind of armor it wears or shield it carries is noted in parentheses after its AC value.

Hit Points

A creature usually dies or is destroyed when its hit points drop to 0. For more on hit points, see the rulebook.

Speed

A creature’s speed tells you how far it can move on its turn. For more information on speed, see the rulebook.

All creatures have a walking speed; those that have no form of ground-based locomotion have a walking speed of 0 feet. Many of the creatures herein have one or more additional movement modes.

Burrow

A creature that has a burrowing speed can use all or part of its movement to move through sand, earth, mud, or ice. It can’t burrow through solid rock unless it has a special trait that allows it to do so.

Climb

A creature that has a climbing speed can use all or part of its movement to move on vertical surfaces. The creature doesn’t need to spend extra movement to climb.

Fly

A creature that has a flying speed can use all or part of its movement to fly. If the creature is incapacitated or knocked prone while flying, it falls unless it can hover.

Swim

A creature that has a swimming speed doesn’t need to spend extra movement to swim.

Ability Scores

Every creature has six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma) and corresponding modifiers. For more information on ability scores and how they’re used in play, see the rulebook.

Saving Throws

The Saving Throws entry is reserved for creatures that are particularly adept at resisting certain kinds of effects.

Skills

The Skills entry is reserved for creatures that are proficient in one or more skills. For example, a perceptive and stealthy creature might have higher-than-normal bonuses to Wisdom (Perception) and Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

Skills in a creature’s stat block are shown with the total modifier—the creature’s ability modifier plus its proficiency bonus. If a creature’s stat block says “Stealth +6,” roll a d20 and add 6 when the creature makes an ability check using Stealth.

Armor, Weapon, and Tool Proficiencies

Assume a creature is proficient with its armor, weapons, and tools. If you swap out a creature’s armor and weapons, you must decide whether the creature is proficient with its new equipment. See the rulebook for what happens when you use these items without proficiency.

Vulnerabilities, Resistances, and Immunities

Some creatures have vulnerability, resistance, or immunity to certain types of damage. Additionally, some creatures are immune to certain conditions and other game effects. These immunities are also noted here.

Senses

The Senses entry notes a creature’s passive Wisdom (Perception) score, as well as any special senses the creature might have, such as the following senses.

Blindsight

A creature with blindsight can perceive its surroundings without having to rely on sight, within a specific radius.

Darkvision

A creature with darkvision can see in the dark within a specific radius. The creature can see in dim light within the radius as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. The creature can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Tremorsense

A creature with tremorsense can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within a specific radius, provided that the creature and the source of the vibrations are in contact with the same ground or substance. Tremorsense can’t be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures. Many burrowing creatures, such as ankhegs, have this special sense.

Languages

The languages that a creature can speak are listed in alphabetical order. Sometimes a creature can understand a language but not speak it, and this is noted in the entry.

Challenge

An appropriately equipped and well-rested party of four adventurers should be able to defeat a creature that has a challenge rating equal to their level without suffering any casualties. Creatures that are significantly weaker than 1st-level characters have challenge ratings lower than 1.

Experience Points (XP)

The number of experience points a creature is worth is based on its challenge rating. Typically, XP is awarded for defeating the creature, and characters gain levels as they accumulate XP.

In Dragon of Icespire Peak, you don’t need to track experience points, as characters advance in level by completing quests instead of accumulating XP.

Traits

Traits are special features of the creature that are likely to be relevant in a combat encounter.

Actions

When a creature takes its action, it can choose from the options in the “Actions” section of its stat block. The rulebook describes other actions available to all creatures.

Melee and Ranged Attacks

The most common actions that a creature will take in combat are melee and ranged attacks. These can be spell attacks or weapon attacks, where the “weapon” might be a manufactured item or a natural weapon, such as a claw.

Hit

Any damage or other effects that occur as a result of an attack hitting a target are described here. As the DM, you can take average damage or roll the damage; for this reason, both the average damage and the die expression are presented. For example, a monster might deal 4 (1d8) slashing damage with its longsword. That notation means you can have the monster deal 4 damage, or you can roll 1d8 to determine the damage.

Reactions

If a creature can do something unusual with its reaction, that information is contained here. Most creatures don’t have special reactions, in which case this section is absent. Reactions are explained in the rulebook.

Limited Usage

Some special abilities—whether they are traits, actions, or reactions—have restrictions on the number of times they can be used.

X/Day

The notation “X/Day” means a special ability can be used a certain number of times and that a creature must finish a long rest to regain expended uses.

Recharge X–Y

The notation “Recharge X–Y” means a creature can use a special ability once and that the ability then has a random chance of recharging during each subsequent round of combat. At the start of each of the creature’s turns, roll a d6. If the roll is one of the numbers in the recharge notation, the creature regains the use of that special ability. The ability also recharges when the creature finishes a short or long rest.

Creature Descriptions

The creatures that appear in the adventure are presented in this section in alphabetical order.

Anchorite of Talos

These Anchorite of Talos are granted spellcasting power by Talos, the god of storms. Their human ancestors bred with orcs, and now all anchorites of Talos are half-orcs.

Ankheg

An ankheg resembles an enormous, many-legged insect that burrows underground while using its tremorsense to detect prey. When it detects movement above, it bursts from the ground and uses its mandibles to seize prey. From its maw, it secretes acidic enzymes that help dissolve a victim for easy swallowing. It can squirt these enzymes to take down foes beyond its reach.

Banshee

A banshee is the hateful spirit of a once-beautiful female elf. It appears as a luminous, wispy form that vaguely recalls its mortal features. A banshee’s face is wreathed in a wild tangle of hair, and its body is clad in wispy rags that flutter and stream around it.

A banshee is forever bound to the place of its demise. It abhors mirrors, for it can’t bear to see the horror of its undead existence.

Blights

Blights are malevolent, supernatural plant monsters that try to spread evil wherever they can. Three kinds of blights are described here.

Needle Blight

In the shadows of a forest, needle blight might be mistaken at a distance for shuffling, hunched humanoids. Up close, these creatures reveal themselves as horrid plants whose conifer-like needles grow across their bodies in quivering clumps. A needle blight lashes out with these needles or launches them as an aerial assault that can punch through armor and flesh.

Twig Blight

Twig blight can root in soil and resemble woody shrubs while rooted. When it pulls its roots free of the ground to move, a twig blight’s branches twist together to form a humanoid-looking body with a head and limbs. Given how dry they are, twig blights are particularly susceptible to fire.

Vine Blights

Appearing as masses of slithering creepers, vine blight can animate the plants around them, using these plants to entangle foes. Vine blights are the only blights capable of speech, which they use to taunt victims or bargain with powerful foes.

Boar

Boar are dim-witted omnivores that avoid combat unless they are particularly hungry or ornery. A boar attacks by charging and goring enemies with its tusks.

Carrion Crawler

Carrion crawler are large subterranean predators and scavengers that scour putrid flesh from carcasses and gobble the slimy bones that remain. They aggressively attack any creature that trespasses on their territory or disturbs their feasting.

Centaur

Reclusive wanderers and omen-readers of the wild, centaur avoid conflict but fight fiercely when pressed. They roam the vast wilderness, keeping far from borders, laws, and the company of other creatures.

Commoner

Commoner include peasants, serfs, servants, pilgrims, merchants, artisans, and hermits.

Cow

Use the cow stat block to represent common varieties of cattle, including oxen.

Don-Jon Raskin

Adventurers who undertake the area Mountain’s Toe Quest meet Don-Jon Raskin, a fearless troubleshooter who has experienced more than his fair share of adventures.

Falcon the Hunter

Adventurers encounter Falcon the Hunter if they visit his hunting lodge in Neverwinter Wood.

Ghoul

Ghoul roam in packs, driven by an insatiable hunger for humanoid flesh. They thrive in places rank with decay and death. If they can’t gorge on dead flesh and decomposing organs, they pursue living creatures and attempt to make corpses of them.

Giant Crab

A giant crab weighs as much as an average adult human. Protected by a thick shell, it attacks with its pincer claws.

Giant Rat

Giant rat roam in packs through sewers, caves, and other dank places. They are often found in the company of wererats (see page 64).

Giant Spider

To snare its prey, a giant spider spins elaborate webs or shoots sticky strands of webbing from its abdomen. Giant spiders are most commonly found underground, making their lairs on ceilings or in dark, web-filled crevices. Such lairs are often festooned with web cocoons holding past victims.

Gorthok the Thunder Boar

Gorthok the Thunder Boar is a primal nature spirit that takes the form of a boar as big as an elephant, with lightning that dances along its tusks. Gorthok serves the will of Talos, god of storms, and can be summoned during stormy weather to do the bidding of Talos’s evil followers. Like its patron deity, Gorthok revels in destruction.

Harpy

A harpy is always on the hunt for prey. Its sweet song has lured countless adventurers to their deaths, drawing them in close for the harpy to kill and then consume.

Hunter Shark

A fully grown hunter shark is 15 to 20 feet long.

Invisible Stalker

An invisible stalker is a remorseless creature of elemental air. It’s naturally invisible, hence its name.

Manticore

Manticore are fierce killers that hunt far and wide for prey. They aren’t particularly bright but can converse with intelligent prey. If a manticore sees an advantage to be gained by sparing a creature’s life, it does so, asking for a tribute or sacrifice equal to the loss of food.

Mimic

Mimic are shapeshifting predators that can alter their outward texture to resemble wood, stone, and other basic materials. They do so to assume the appearance of inanimate objects that other creatures are likely to come into contact with. A mimic in its altered form is nearly unrecognizable until it sprouts pseudopods and attacks.

Ochre Jelly

Ochre jelly are yellowish blobs that can slip through narrow cracks in pursuit of creatures to devour. Their digestive enzymes dissolve flesh quickly but have no effect on other substances such as bone, wood, or metal.

Ogre

Ogre are as lazy of mind as they are strong of body. They live by raiding, scavenging, and killing for food and pleasure. The average adult specimen stands 9 to 10 feet tall and weighs close to a thousand pounds.

Orc

Orc are savage raiders with an unmatched lust for carnage. They worship a pantheon of evil gods, the mightiest being Gruumsh. While they regard dwarves as natural enemies, orcs hate elves above all, for the elven god Corellon Larethian half-blinded Gruumsh with a well-placed arrow to the orc god’s eye. Since then, orcs have taken particular joy in slaughtering elves.

Riding Horse

A character can purchase or sell a healthy riding horse in Phandalin for 75 gp.

Rock Gnome Recluse

Rock gnome recluse are skilled in the arcane arts. They use their magical talents to create all kinds of wondrous inventions, very few of which work as intended.

Stirge

Stirge attach to living creatures and drain their blood. Packs of them can be a formidable threat, reattaching as quickly as their weakening prey can pluck them off.

Veteran

Veteran include soldiers retired from military service and warriors who never served anyone but themselves.

Will-o'-Wisp

Will-o'-wisp haunt lonely places and battlefields, where they feed on fear and despair. They look like wispy, bobbing lantern lights in the distance.

Wererat

Wererat are cunning lycanthropes that operate much like a thieves' guild. Through its bite, a wererat can pass along the curse of lycanthropy—something it normally reserves for new gang recruits. A player character cursed with wererat lycanthropy becomes an NPC under the DM’s control on nights of the full moon.

Wererat Lycanthropy

Any humanoid creature cursed with wererat lycanthropy retains its statistics except as follows:

• The creature gains the wererat’s speed in rat form, as well as the wererat’s damage immunities, traits, and actions that don’t involve equipment. It can’t speak while in rat form.
• The creature gains a Dexterity of 15 if its score isn’t already higher.
• The creature is proficient with the wererat’s bite attack. Attack and damage rolls for its bite are based on the creature’s Strength or Dexterity, whichever is higher. The save DC for the creature’s bite is 8 + the creature’s proficiency bonus + the creature’s Constitution modifier.

Young White Dragon

Young White Dragon prefer cold climates. They are vicious, cruel reptiles driven by hunger and greed. Their bestial nature makes them the best hunters among dragonkind.